TWO VIEWS OF THE SOVIETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000301210020-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 22, 2012
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: March 2, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/08/22 : CIA-RDP99-01448R000301210020-0
ARTICI.F. APPEARED
ON PAGE___Z e- cs. ? I '
0-{ ICAGO TRIBUNE
2 March 1985
Two views of the Soviets
Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger is
-fond of saying that the Soviet defense budget
determines the United States'. If so, it's dis-
concerting to learn that the Central Intelli-
gence Agency and the Defense Intelligence
Agency can't agree on what Soviet military
spending is.
irk}-73:6117ert Gates, dile CIA's deputy director for
--iiicelWn-ce7?to-lti---Congress' Joint Economic
Committee that Soviet defense spending has
become relatively stagnant since 1977, with
outlays for military hardware increasing just 2
percent between 1982 and 1983. The DIA insists
that Moscow's procurement spending has been
rising between 5 and 8 percent a year, after
adjusting for inflation. The latter assessment
has been used to justify Mr. Weinberger's
request for a 10 percent increase in American
weapons procurement in the next budget.
It's interesting that the CIA is sticking to its
low estimate even though its director, William
Casey, is known for preferring intelligence that
supports the Reagan party line.' It's note-
worthy that the DIA represents a Pentagon
bureaucracy in which the rank and privileges
of many a general and admiral depend on the
size of procurement projects. Many Pentagon
assessments of Soviet weapons capability are
made by defense industry experts whose firms
stand to benefit greatly from spending in-
creases.
But, as Mr. Gates observed, what counts is
not quibbling over dollar (or ruble) amounts
but what the Soviets are getting for their
money. Despite the stagnation, the Soviets
have been producing "far more missiles,
planes, warships, tanks and other weapons,"
he said.
The U.S. has been competing by building
ever costlier but fewer and fewer weapons so
laden with high technology that many obser-
vers fear they are too delicate to withstand the
rigors of combat.
The question for Mr. Weinberger and espe-
cially Congress is which side is getting the
most for its money and whether the Soviet
threat is being met militarily as well as
financially. 'On the battlefield, the size of
ledger books-is not going to count for much:
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/08/22 : CIA-RDP99-01448R000301210020-0